Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake

Each year the Dublin Service League chooses one new recipe to share with our guests at the Fair & Marketplace.

This year we have the Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake! Impress your holiday guests by baking up this treasure and you may start a new holiday tradition! It works for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any holiday gathering.

Introducing the 2023 feature, Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake; see you there!

Ingredients

PUMPKIN CAKE

● 3 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice

● 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

● ¼ teaspoon Ground Cloves

● ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger

● 1 teaspoon Baking Soda

● 4 teaspoons Baking Powder

● 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour*

● 1 cup Salted Butter (room temperature)

● 1 cup Granulated Sugar

● 2 cups Light Brown Sugar (packed)

● ¼ cup Vegetable Oil

● 6 large Eggs (room temperature)

● 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

● 2 15oz cans Pure Pumpkin

*Do NOT substitute with any other brand of gluten free (GF) flour

BROWN BUTTER FROSTING

● 1 ½ cups Salted Butter (room temperature)

● 4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

● ½ cup + 2 tablespoons Heavy Cream

● 6 cups Powdered Sugar (2 lb bag minus 1 cup)

Instructions

BROWN BUTTER

Place a medium, nonstick saucepan (2 qt) over medium high heat and put in the salted butter. Set a 9-minute timer and do not touch it (be sure to keep an eye on it in case your cooktop runs hot). Don’t stir or whisk. Just leave it to do its thing. You will start to smell the buttery, nutty aroma and it will begin turning brown.

Sometimes the foam makes it hard to see what’s happening underneath but that’s normal and there’s no need to stir or check. As soon as the time is up (or when the foam settles down and the mixture appears to not be doing anything), turn the heat off and without stirring, pour it into a heat safe dish. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes then place it in the fridge (a minimum of 45 minutes) while you make the cake. It will cool back into a soft-solid state which is how you want it for making the buttercream.

CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 350 o F. Using a folded paper towel, grease 3 9-inch round pans with vegetable shortening. Be sure not to use a baking spray that has flour in it (like Baker’s Joy) because it will not be gluten free. Dust the pans with the gluten free flour and tap out any excess.

2. In a large bowl, sift the pumpkin pie spice, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and gluten free flour. Whisk until combined and set aside for later.

3. In a stand mixer, add the room temperature salted butter and mix on medium for 1-2 minutes. Turn the mixer down low, add the granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Turn the mixer back up to a medium speed and let it run for a few minutes; until the mixture is fluffy and slightly lighter in color. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl well with a spatula.

4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the vegetable oil then turn the mixer back up to medium and let it run a few more minutes. Don’t rush this process. It takes time to incorporate the fat from the oil into the mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Mixing on low to medium speed, add the vanilla and then the eggs one at a time allowing 1 minute of mixing in between each egg. After all the eggs are added, scrape the bowl well and turn the mixer up to a medium high speed for 4 minutes.

6. On low speed, add in the pure pumpkin and allow it to fully mix. Stop to scrape the sides if needed. Your mixing bowl will start to look quite full at this point.

7. Add in the dry ingredients from earlier and mix on low. Be sure to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again. With the flour being gluten free you really can’t over mix this so mix until you feel everything is fully combined. Your batter will almost fill your bowl but it will mix. I promise.

8. Pour the batter equally into the 3 9-inch pans. Let them rest about 5 minutes before going into the oven. Bake for 33 minutes then check. Place a toothpick into the center of each cake and if it comes out clean, it’s done. If the batter is still wet, then continue cooking the layers a couple more minutes.

9. Let the cakes cool on the counter or on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes before turning them over and allowing them to cool completely.

BUTTERCREAM

1. Place the semi soft, brown butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (yes, even those little brown pieces in the bottom of the butter – they add such a yummy flavor to this buttercream). Turn the mixer low and add the vanilla. Immediately, begin adding the powdered sugar and heavy cream alternating them until it’s all added.

Turn the mixer up to a medium high speed for about 30 seconds then stop and scrape the bowl. Continue mixing on high for another minute until everything is incorporated. Set aside for decorating right away or place in an air-tight container in the fridge up to a few days before using.

DECORATING

Place a 1-2 inch sized smear of buttercream in the center of a cardboard round and set a totally cooled cake layer on it. This will act as a glue for your bottom layer helping it not to slide around later. Spread the buttercream over the top of the layer covering it and letting it spill over the edge slightly. Add your second cake layer of cake and repeat.

Place your 3 rd layer on top and begin using the rest of the buttercream to cover the top and then working around the sides. This icing makes just enough to fully coat the cake but not excessively. You may even be able to slightly see cake through the icing around the sides giving it sort of a raw look. It’s similar to a “crumb coat” if you’re familiar with that term. There is a lot of flavor in this buttercream so don’t worry about it not being enough. Too much icing would be overpowering.

Refrigerate the completed cake for 24 hours before serving. This allows all the flavors to fully combine. Enjoy!